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I felt the cold like a thousand needles. The pain was unimaginable. I opened my mouth to scream and I couldn’t make a sound. My tongue was frozen.
I woke thrashing and moaning. How embarrassing. A nightmare. But I can’t believe it was a dream. Truly, it was too real, too visceral. I remember us breaking camp the morning after the dragon. Dyssko with that odd brush for his teeth; Lady Livia saying her morning prayers….

We approached the hole, a square opening, like an opening to a mine. The metal staircase went down into darkness. Cinder went first, checking for traps and searching the darkness. Myntilly followed at her heels, the rest of us fell in behind. In my dream I remember being very calm about walking into an inky pit.

At each landing Cinder would pause and check for traps and look around. She did notice a dark spot under the last set of stairs, but after Dyssko illuminated the area with his dancing lights, the dark spot seemed to disappear. As Cinder stepped on the last landing, she heard a slight “puff” sound and felt a sudden iciness in the air. It seemed to come from under the stairs.

Myntilly stepped on the landing to get a closer look. From under the stairs two serpent-like heads reared up and took bites from her legs. Lucky for us she fell forward, towards Cinder. Blood streamed down her legs. At that moment panic swept through our party. “What in god’s name….?” I started to yell to the heavens. Livia’s quiet voice cut through. “It’s a hydra. May all the gods help us.”

Acgar smiled grimly, “At least it’s not another dragon.” Dyssko hopped from one foot to another. “Oh, cool! I’ve heard about these creatures. What do we do?” Myntilly was on her feet. She moved back up the staircase, away from the landing. “I don’t know about you, but I’m casting scorching ray on it’s ass.” Sadi nodded. “Ranged attack is the only answer.”

I moved a step closer to the landing. Could I crush a head with my mace? At that moment, the creature came out from under the stairs. I could see the heads and its muscular body. Such beauty in motion. And then it opened all seven mouths and breathed icy death upon me.